What Does it Take to Be the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World?

What does it take to be the greatest real estate agent in the world? Is it the availablility 24/7 for clients and potential clients? Is it the perfect balance between professional real estate and personal life? Is it the ability to predict the market, list and sell every house and find the perfect home for every buyer? … No, that last one is impossible.

I believe that the greatest real estate agent in the world is a dedicated professional who also has a meaningful personal life. This would give them (the greatest real estate agent in the world) the ability to master the business of real estate, yet still be able to connect with their clients on a personal level.

Keller Williams teaches: God - Family - Business
I could not agree MORE with that philosophy, which is one reason why I chose to be affilliated with Keller Williams.

However, “great” is a term that means different things to different people and we all know that we cannot be all things to all people … so maybe seeking the title of Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World is a fruitless task … at least in reality. (SEO may be a different story though…)

So, although I would love to be the greatest real estate agent in the world, I have a lot to learn. Someday, maybe I will see it in lights: Mariana Wagner is the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World.

Maybe I should just go for the Greatest Real Estate Agent in Colorado Springs title …

(Idea for this fun post taken from the Greatest real estate agent in the world post by Eric Bramlett.)

Other “Great” Posts:
Jay Thompson - Phoenix Real Estate Guy
ARDELL’s Post on Rain City Guide (P.S. She is winning this little contest so far…)
Ryan Ward’s Atlanta Real Estate Blog
Greg Boser’s SEO Consultant Blog
See Georgia Real Estate
Real Estate Webmasters
VIP Realty Info

Common Courtesies of a Real Estate Agent in Colorado Springs … Or Well, ANYWHERE!

As a professional Real Estate Agent in Colorado Springs – or anywhere for that matter, there are some common courtesies that should be expected. While sitting in a PPAR Meeting the other day, we went over some of these. Here are a few of the common Real Estate Agent courtesies that you should expect to provide as a real estate agent:

General Courtesies:

• Have their phone off during ALL meetings. Voice mail is a totally viable option while a meeting is in progress.
• Let people know how to reach you. Main phone numbers, cell phone numbers, fax numbers and emails should be available to anyone working with a Real Estate Agent.
• Return phone calls promptly. There is rarely an excuse for not returning phone calls in a timely manner.

Showing Courtesies:

• Provide feedback on properties shown. When asked, a Real Estate Agent should be ready to provide helpful feedback to listing agents on homes shown.
  • Call listing agent with MLS inaccuracies. We are all in it together, folks! If an MLS listing has omitted a room or a great feature, it is plain courteous to notify the listing agent that the MLS is inaccurate. This also applies to errors found in the MLS.
  • Always call prior to showing a property. Even if the showing instructions don’t’ call for it, you NEVER know what the “new” showing instructions may be.
  • Read and Follow Showing Instructions. Duh? Even after you do this, please call to confirm that there are no additional showing instructions that need to be observed. Nothing worse than letting the cat out and having to chase it for an hour.
  • Call if you are going to be late to a showing. Showing a home involves the schedules of several people. If you are going to be late … please call.
  • Call if you are NOT going to show a property. Again, showing a home involves the schedules of several people. If you are not going to show the home … please call.
  • Always knock and ring doorbell prior to entering a property. I will not even BEGIN to go into the stories that are out there about THIS one …
  • Always leave a card or sign in. Unless told otherwise, this is just a common courtesy that lets the seller know that you actually showed up and gives the listing agent a way to call you for feedback.
  • If the Seller is there during a showing, leave conversation with your Buyers to a minimum. You are not there to offend the Seller, nor are you there to have your Buyers let the Seller know how much they HAVE to have the property. Take copious notes and talk about the home after you leave.
  • Leave the property exactly as you found it. If you cannot remember which door needs to be locked, window needs to be opened, lights need to be on/off, just call the listing agent (or showing desk) before you leave.
  • Report issues and problems to listing agent right away. Report anything that looks wrong – especially in vacant properties. Common issues include: broken windows, flooding, graffiti and general disarray.

Courtesies When Writing An Offer:

• Call Listing Broker PRIOR to Submitting an Offer. Not
  only is this a common courtesy, but it can save TIME for everyone involved.
  The following questions should be addressed:
  • Is it still available? What if they JUST accepted another offer and the agent has not reflected that in the MLS?
    
  • Are there any extenuating circumstances that need to be addressed or considered? Foreclosures are a major “extenuating circumstance”
  • What are the inclusions and exclusions? When it says “fridge included” is it the one in the kitchen or the one in the garage?
  • Where
    are the addendums and disclosures that will need to be signed?
  • Where will the offer need to be delivered? If the listing agent has a home office, then the main office may not be the best place to deliver the offer.
    
  • What response time should be given? A 2 hour window will not work if the Seller is in Italy …

Listing Agent Courtesies:

• Lockboxes:
  • Make the lockbox easy to find. No one should have to play Where’s Waldo to show a home.
  • Make the lockbox easy to access. Real Estate Agents come in all shapes and sizes. Please do not make getting to the lockbox an Olympic event.
• Give accurate directions on the MLS. If your property cannot be found easily, per accurate directions, it will probably not be shown.
• Provide DETAILED Showing Instructions. Your DUTY to your seller is to make sure that the home is shown how THEY want it shown.
• Update your Sellers. Keep in touch with them regarding your marketing efforts, showings and current market activity. Decide on a “keep in touch” schedule at the time that you take the listing and FOLLOW IT.
• Get feedback for your Sellers. Other agents’ opinions can make a world of difference in adjusting price and condition.
• Continually update MLS info. Any changes to the property should be reflected in the MLS right away. Common changes include: new paint, now vacant, remove shoes in inclement weather, new/cleaned carpets, new pet …

Closing Courtesies:

• Be early. If you absolutely cannot be early, then AT LEAST be on time.
• Pay attention to documents and people. Chatter is fine, but making sure that the closing goes as planned and expected is more important.
• Closing Gifts: This should be taken care of AFTER closing, preferably OUT of the closing room.

 

Of course, all of these fall into COMMON courtesies; a few of these may not apply in all market areas, but for the most part just follow the golden rule.

Posted By: Mariana Wagner – Colorado Springs Real Estate Agent

Top Online Resources for Keller Williams Agents

Here is a pretty comprehensive list of Internet Resources that we have found to be Super-Helpful for Real Estate Agents. Most of them are great for listing agents, but many can be a great resource for whatever role you have in the world of Real Estate.

First and foremost, KW.com and KWU are always a great resource - one of your BEST resources – for both online and offline marketing. But since that is a given … We will start with MY TOP 5:

1. RealEstateShows.com: This is an AWESOME resource for marketing your listings. For just $125 a YEAR – you will have the ability to create UNLIMITED Real Estate Tours of your listings … or whatever else you would want a tour of (neighborhoods, community events …). This site is SUPER user friendly and there plenty of options to customize your tours and great opportunities for branding. These tours can be added to ALL of your online advertising and to many of the sites listed below.
   
2. ActiveRain.com: For those of you who are not already members, Active Rain is a FREE online Real Estate Community – a networking resource and educational Mecca for real estate professionals. This is a great place to read about the industry from many people’s perspectives from all over the country as well as create your own real estate blog and share YOUR perspective of the real estate industry, stories, marketing ideas … It is FREE to join Active Rain and participation is worth it’s virtual weight in gold. Derek and I joined in September of 2006 and it has become one of our best business decisions we have ever made.
   (When you join Active Rain, make sure you become a member of the Keller Williams ‘Rainers Group!)
   
3. VFlyer.com: This is a site that gives you the opportunity to create virtual flyers for all of your listed properties. There are several levels of service. The basic service is FREE and every level of service offers the opportunity to “push” your flyers to listing aggregate sites (see below) as well as an easy cut-and-paste way to get your flyer on CraigsList and BackPage. (Check out a Craigslist example HERE).
   
4. SellsiusRealEstate.com: This is another great real estate listing database. It costs $30 a year to upload all of your listings. They are heavy marketers and all leads from YOUR listings go to YOU. And? You can claim your NICHE and show as the local EXPERT for that niche. There are a lot of other great philosophies behind this site: Check them out here: About SellsiusRealEstate.
   
5. RSSPieces.com: This site is aimed specifically at Real Estate Bloggers. There is SO MUCH useful information regarding real estate and blogging that my mind tends to explode about once a week. They also build custom websites for real estate bloggers that come with extensive SEO and support. We are getting one built for team and it should be up and running in a couple weeks. If you are unsure about the benefits of real estate blogging, check out RSSPieces and read a few of their posts.
   

Top Websites to Post Your Listings On:

• KW.com – Posts to:
  
  • Yuvie.com
  • Point2Homes.com
  • Geebo.com
  • GoogleBase.com
  • Trulia.com
  • CyberHomes.com
  • Edgeio.com
• VFlyer.com – A virtual flyer that automatically posts to:
  
  • GoogleBase.com
  • Trulia.com
  • PropSmart.com
  • Oodle.com
  • Vast.com
  • Edgeio.com
• Postlets.com – Much like VFlyer, but offers different looks and feels. It is a virtual flyer that automatically posts to:
  
  • Trulia.com
  • GoogleBase.com
  • Oodle.com
  • BackPage.com
  • Local.com
  • Lycos.com
  • PropSmart.com
  • Edgeio.com
  • Vast.com
• GoogleBase.com – Your listings WILL show up here if you post to the above mentioned sites, but you can also create a FREE profile that all of your listings can be stored under.
  
• CraigsList – This is a local site that
  you can post your listings for sale on. It is more popular with consumers than many people give it credit for. It reminds me of an online version of the Nickel Ads.
  
• Realtor.com – Some MLS systems automatically push to Realtor.com, and even if yours does, you should consider becoming a member. It is relatively inexpensive and gives you the opportunity to showcase your listings and add all kinds of neat features that will grab the attention of online home-searchers.
  
• ActiveRain.com – Localism.com – Whenever you post a listing or consumer-oriented post, it automatically posts to Localism.com. *Tip: When you post a listing on Active Rain, make sure that you put the address in the title. When you do this, the address now becomes searchable by Google – Sellers love that.
  
• Trulia.com – KWLS automatically “pushes” to Trulia, but there are some “upgrades” that would allow your properties to become “featured” on relevant searches for homes. You should also check out Trulia Voices - which is a open forum for consumers to ask real estate questions and real estate professionals (you) can answer them.
  

General Real Estate Online Resources

These links are sites that I always learn something new from. There is no real rhyme or reason, but I like each one:

• BloogHound Blog – All kinds of characters make up this site. If you like opinions, or HAVE opinions relating to real estate, then you should be a regular reader/commenter.
  
• Brian Brady – To put is lightly, this Mortgage Guy is very opinionated. But he is also HIGHLY educated in the world of home finance and pretty much “knows it all” … a definite MUST READ regarding the mortgage industry.
  
• Transparent Real Estate – Pat Kitano offers a refreshing look into how real estate interacts with the public.
  
• RealEStaging (Craig Schiller) – If you never understood the benefits of staging, you NEED to check out Craig’s site.
  

Real Estate Blogging Resources:

Blogging is a wonderful resource for Real Estate Agents. If you do not know what I am talking about, just grab a cup of coffee and peruse through these sites.

• ActiveRain.com – If you are new to the world of Real Estate Blogging, then this is a great place to start. The people are friendly and helpful and there are an abundance of resources for new RE Bloggers.
  
• WordPress.com or WordPress.org – These are blogging platforms. One is FREE and the other one is a little more user-friendly but costs a few bucks a month.
  
• RSSPieces.com – One of my favorite resources for real estate blogging. They offer custom blog sites that could potentially replace the traditional website – IF you are a real estate blogger. They are MASTERS at SEO and blog marketing. Their sites are fully custom and affordable and they have some awesome testimonials as well.
  
• RealEstateTomato.com – Consistently provides a boatload of “Juicy News for Online Realtors®” … a MUST READ. They also offer custom blog sites (and from my understanding, they can do amazing integration with WordPress.) and also offer comprehensive SEO and training. Jim Cronin – president of the Tomato, is/was a guest speaker at the 2007 KW Mega Camp.
  
• RealtyBlogging – Yes. These folks ALSO build custom real estate blog sites, but they are a WEALTH of understandable information regarding Real Estate Blogging … HECK! These guys wrote the book: Realty Blogging! (If you would like to see a comprehensive book review on this, please read: Realty Blogging Book Review.)
  

Okay … There are more than 21 resources. And, of course, I am always stumbling upon new and different resources and there are PLENTY of sites that have GREAT information. These are just the ones that “rise to the top” when I think of resources to share.

Please feel free to add to this list in the comment section below.

Thank you for taking the time to check this out and remember … (shameless plug) When you have a client that is relocating to Colorado Springs, Monument or surrounding areas, please remember us:

Derek and Mariana Wagner – Wagner iTeam – Colorado Springs Real Estate – (719) 570-7715 Direct

Have a GREAT Business!